cOver sTOry | TOp 500 banking BrANDS introduction In such volatile times for the financial sector, strong branding is more important than ever. The Banker’s Top 500 Banking Brands listing ranks the leading brands. Brian Caplen reports. ne of the side effects of the financial crisis tion Bank and Bank of China – have retreated slightly in is that it has woken banks up to the impor- terms of placing, but have all increased their brand values. tance of their brand. Traditionally, many Santander’s growing prominence stems from a deci- banks had assumed that their brand repre- sion taken in 2005 to go for a single global brand, although sented old-fashioned values such as trust the switchover in particular countries depends on local cir- Oand stability and that they needed to do little more to cumstances. María Sánchez del Corral, the group’s head of enhance it. Customers were happy to place their savings in global branding, marketing and corporate advertising, the bank, knowing that they were perfectly safe and that says: “We have shown that having a single brand reinforces they could sleep easy at night our reputation for strength and solvency, it attracts clients Now suddenly the world has changed and the reality and encourages their loyalty and it makes recruiting and that even banks with longstanding brands can experience retaining talent easier. A single brand has huge synergies difficulties has shaken depositors’ perceptions. The upside and saves on advertising and sponsorship costs.” is that while some traditional brands may need a bit of Santander’s sponsorship of motorsport’s Formula One was rebuilding, the field is wide open to convince customers to selected as it is a sport that translates across national bor- switch brands or try a bank that they may not have previ- ders and is aspirational in character. ously considered. Santander’s switchover from Abbey to Santander in the But with branding, all the pieces have to be in place – UK in January is an example of how circumstances can has- products and services, technology, employee buy-in, as well ten a move in branding. “Changing the brand was always as strength and stability – to gain the maximum leverage. the aim, but our strong showing in the credit crisis gave us The Banker’s Top 500 Banking Brands shows that the the credibility we needed to go ahead”, says Keith Moor, the brands that tick all these boxes, such as HSBC and bank’s director of brand and communications in the UK. Santander, are holding and improving their position in the HSBC launched its single-brand strategy back in 1998, ranking. HSBC remains in number one position and but still managed to end up with numerous permutations Santander, in moving from fourth to third place, has more of its logo –“messy architecture”, as Tracy Britton, head of than doubled its brand value. HSBC group marketing, describes it. Despite all the criticism it has received from some “We decided to organise our offerings around proposi- quarters, Goldman Sachs has improved its position con- tions relating to five basic consumer segments,” she says. siderably, moving from 17th to seventh place, suggesting “As a global brand, you evolve, you don’t take sharp turns,” that customers take a rather different view of the brand she adds, explaining how the famous advertising campaign than the one portrayed in certain sections of the media. In displaying its international knowledge will move on to the investment banking circles, Goldman Sachs remains the next stage. brand to emulate. In a way, the development of the Facebook-using, The other continuing trend is the increasing strength of internet-savvy global consumer is playing to the strengths emerging market brands. Brazil’s Bradesco has moved from of banks such as Santander and HSBC and helping to keep 12th place to ninth, Banco do Brasil from 36 to 26 and State them at the top of the ranking. But staying at the front is Bank of India has made a huge leap of 34 places to 36th always a challenge and is the result of considerable brand- position. The big Chinese banks – ICBC, China Construc- ing forethought that permeates each institution. 16 | The Banker | February 2010 TOp 500 banking BrANDS | cOver sTOry introduction METHODOLOGY of growth expectations (GDP and IBES). stream is then discounted back to a net present The methodology employed by Brand Finance 3. Establish the royalty rate for each bank. value. The ‘relief from royalty’ approach is used in this Top 500 Banking Brands listing uses a This is done by: for two reasons: it is favoured by tax authorities discounted cash flow (DCF) technique to ■ Calculating brand strength – on a scale of zero and the courts because it calculates brand discount estimated future royalties at an to 100 – according to a number of attributes values by reference to documented third-party appropriate discount rate, to arrive at a net such as asset strength, emotional connection, transactions and it can be done based on present value (NPV) of the trademark and market share and profitability among others. publicly available financial information. associated intellectual property: the brand value. ■ Determining the royalty rate for each of the The steps in this process are to: revenue streams mentioned in step one. Brand ratings 1. Obtain brand-specific financial and revenue ■ Calculating future royalty income stream. These are calculated using Brand Finance’s data. The revenue was then segmented into the 4. Calculate the discount rate specific to each ßrandßeta® analysis which benchmarks the following revenue streams: retail banking, bank, taking account of its size, geographical strength, risk and potential of a brand, relative to commercial banking, wholesale/investment presence, reputation, gearing and brand rating its competitors, on a scale ranging from AAA to banking, insurance asset management and (see below). D. It is conceptually similar to a credit rating. The credit cards. 5. Discount future royalty stream (explicit data used to calculate the ratings comes from 2. Model the market to identify market demand forecast and perpetuity periods) to a net present various sources including Bloomberg annual and the position of individual banks in the value – ie. the brand value. reports and Brand Finance research. context of all other market competitors. Brand ratings definitions: Three forecast periods were used: Royalty relief approach AAA Extremely strong ■ Estimated financial results for 2009 using Brand Finance uses a ‘relief from royalty’ AA Very strong Institutional Brokers Estimate System (IBES) methodology that determines the value of the A Strong consensus forecast. brand in relation to the royalty rate that would be BBB-B Average ■ A five-year forecast period (2010 to 2014) payable for its use, were it owned by a third CCC-C Weak based on three sources: IBES, historic growth party. The royalty rate is applied to future DDD-D Failing and gross domestic product (GDP) growth. revenue to determine an earnings stream that is Valuation date: All brand values in the report are ■ Perpetuity growth based on a combination attributable to the brand. The brand earnings for the year ending December 31, 2009. February 2010 | The Banker | 17 cOver sTOry | TOp 500 banking BrANDS rankings valuaTiOn year 2009 (all valuations USD million) reTail Banking TOp 10 cOmmercial Banking TOp 10 Rank Brand Parent Domicile Brand value Brand rating Market Brand value/ Rank Brand Parent Domicile Brand value Brand rating Market Brand value/ 2010 company 2010 2010 cap market cap (%) 2010 company 2010 2010 cap market cap (%) 1 Santander Banco Santander SA Spain 22,990 AAA+ 128,087 18% 1 Banco do Brasil Banco Do Brasil SA Brazil 6662 AA+ 43,135 15% 2 Bank of America Bank of America Corp US 22,630 AAA+ 111,754 20% 2 China Construction China Construction China 5734 AA+ 208,117 3% Bank Bank 3 Wells Fargo Wells Fargo & Co US 18,463 AA 131,225 14% 3 Rabobank Rabobank Netherlands 5627 AA+ na na 4 HSBC HSBC Holdings Plc UK 17,814 AAA+ 193,794 9% 4 ICBC Industrial & Commercial Bank China 5301 AA+ 225,368 2% of China 5 Bradesco Banco Bradesco SA-Pref Brazil 12,879 AAA- 56,583 23% 5 Sberbank Sberbank-CLS Russia 4996 AA+ 51,108 10% 6 BBVA Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argenta Spain 9753 AA- 69,134 14% 6 Bank of China Bank Of China Ltd China 4321 AA 149,395 3% 7 Chase JPMorgan Chase & Co US 8429 AA 69,901 12% 7 HSBC HSBC Holdings Plc UK 4015 AAA+ 193,794 2% 8 Credit Suisse Credit Suisse Group AG-Reg Switzerland 8070 AA 50,468 16% 8 UniCredit Unicredit SpA Italy 3445 A+ 44,681 8% 9 Société Générale Société Générale France 8004 AA- 44,662 18% 9 Bank of America Bank of America Corp US 3417 AAA+ 111,754 3% 10 Sberbank Sberbank-CLS Russia 6733 AA+ 51,108 13% 10 RBC Royal Bank of Canada Canada 2856 AA 71,697 4% Source: The Banker Note: na - information not available Source: The Banker WhOlesale/invesTmenT Banking TOp 10 crediT card Banking TOp 10 Rank Brand Parent Domicile Brand value Brand rating Market Brand value/ Rank Brand Parent Domicile Brand value Brand rating Market Brand value/ 2010 company 2010 2010 cap market cap (%) 2010 company 2010 2010 cap market cap (%) 1 JPMorgan JPMorgan Chase & Co US 10,821 AA- 102,425 11% 1 American Express American Express Co US 11,647 AA 42,043 28% 2 Goldman Sachs Goldman Sachs Group Inc US 9573 AAA+ 93,316 10% 2 Citi Citigroup Inc US 6218 A+ 70,105 9% 3 Morgan Stanley Morgan Stanley US 7907 A+ 45,931 17% 3 Visa Visa Inc-Class A Shares US 4850 AAA- 55,159 9% 4 BNP Paribas BNP Paribas France 6776 AA 67,144 10% 4 Chase JPMorgan Chase & Co US 4392 AA 69,901